Cyclones renew affiliation with Florida and Nashville

CINCINNATI, Ohio – The Cincinnati Cyclones are pleased to announce that they have renewed their minor league affiliation agreement with the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators for the 2013-14 season.

The Florida Panthers will serve as a Cyclones parent club for the fourth consecutive season. Florida rookie Jonathan Huberdeau recently captured the Calder Trophy, as the 2012-13 NHL Rookie of the Year. During the 2011-12 campaign, the Panthers captured the Southeast Division Title. The upcoming 2013-14 year will mark the 20th anniversary of the Panthers’ Inaugural NHL season in 1993-94.

The Nashville Predators, who will celebrate their 15th anniversary in the NHL this fall, have served as one of the Cyclones parent clubs since the 2007-08 season. In 2010-11, the Predators celebrated a team milestone by advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in franchise history by defeating the Anaheim Ducks in a six-game series. They followed that up in 2011-12 with another Stanley Cup playoff appearance, advancing to the Western Conference Semifinals. Former Cyclones forwards Chris Mueller, Kevin Henderson, and goaltender Mark Dekanich have all made their NHL debuts with the Predators.

At the American Hockey League (AHL) level, the Cyclones will again be affiliated with the San Antonio Rampage (Florida) and the Milwaukee Admirals (Nashville). While the Rampage did not earn a postseason bid, the team had several players earn NHL promotions. The Admirals, meanwhile, completed this past season ranked eighth in the Western Conference with a 41-28-4-3 record, securing a last-minute spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Between the two AHL affiliates, 21 different Cyclones players logged a combined total of 336 combined games in 2012-13.

“I’m very excited to continue our relationship with both Florida and Nashville,” said Cyclones Head Coach Jarrod Skalde. “Both organizations have great people with great character, which makes it a perfect environment to help our players achieve their goals of getting to the next level. We are very proud that Cincinnati will continue to accelerate the development of the Panthers and Predators prospects.”